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NSBP News

The National Society of Black Physicists held the 2018 Annual Conference with the theme “Scientific Passion and Progress - Meeting The Challenge.” The conference was at the Renaissance Columbus Downtown Hotel, Sunday, November 4 - Wednesday, November 7, 2018. The Annual Conference brings together a broad range of experts in multiple fields of physics (astrophysics, biophysics, condensed matter and materials, high energy physics, optics and photonics, and more). NSBP conference is the largest academic meeting of minority physicists in the United States. It is co-organized in partnership with Associated Universities, Inc. and co-sponsored by the National Science Foundation.

The Emerging Researchers National (ERN) Conference in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) was held at the Washington Marriott Wardman Park February 21-23, 2019 in Washington DC. The ERN Conference is aimed at college and university undergraduate and graduate students who participate in programs funded by the NSF HRD Unit, including underrepresented minorities and persons with disabilities.

On Tuesday, November 6, 2018, the National Society of Black Physicists executive board voted unanimously to confirm a petition from Hampton University Physics Students to formulate the first NSBP Student Chapter.Through a joint effort, initiated by former NSBP Student Representative Charles Brown (Yale, PhD Candidate), current NSBP Student Representative Joshua Burrow (University of Dayton, PhD Candidate), NSBP Student Council Members Dewan Woods (Purdue University, PhD Candidate) and Elon Price (North Carolina State University, Senior), and Maurice Roots (Hampton University, Senior), the group came together over the course of 3 years to put in place a process and establish by-laws.

Congratulations to former NSBP president, Dr. K. Renee Horton, for being one of nine people to be named 2019 Louisianians of the Year by Louisiana Life Magazine. Dr Horton is the immediate past president of the NAtional Society of Black Physicists and only the second woman president in its history. In her professional life, Dr. Horton is a quality engineer at the NASA Residential Management Office at Michoud Assembly Facility (MAF) in New Orleans East. The article details how Dr. Horton is a world class scientist at NASA responsible for projects like the Vertical Assembly Center while working to "make science accessible to children, show African-American kids they can succeed in scientific fields, and teach children about diversity" via a series of childrens books and other media.

For more information, read the full article here. Once again, congratulations to our own Dr. K. Renee Horton.

The first step in TEAM-UP’s multi-pronged approach to this challenge is to survey African American undergraduates contemplating or completing a major in physics and related fields about their experiences as physics students. You can view the cover letters addressed to either current undergraduate students or people or organizations working with African American physics and astronomy undergraduate students by clicking on the appropriate links. To take the survey, simply click the button below labeled "Take the Survey".

Dr. Jedidah Isler is an award-winning astrophysicist, TED Fellow, and a nationally recognized speaker and advocate for inclusive STEM education. She is also the creator and host of the monthly web series “Vanguard: Conversations with Women of Color in STEM.”

Dr. Isler received her bachelor’s degree at Norfolk State University’s Dozoretz National Institute for Mathematics and Applied Sciences (DNIMAS) before earning a Masters in Physics from the Fisk-Vanderbilt Master’s-to-Ph.D. Bridge Program, a pioneering effort to increase the attainment of advanced STEM degrees by students of color. Dr. Isler continued her education at Yale University, where her research on supermassive, hyperactive black holes was supported by fellowships from NASA, the National Science Foundation, and the Ford Foundation. In 2014, she became the first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Yale, completing an award-winning study that examined the physics of particle jets emanating from black holes at the centers of distant galaxies called blazars. Dr. Isler’s current research focuses on using simultaneous infrared, optical and gamma-ray observations to better understand the physics of these blazar jets. She was recently featured by ESSENCE Magazine alongside 14 phenomenal black women in STEM. Find out more at jedidahislerphd.com

Mareena Robinson Snowden is a nuclear engineer working in DC. She is a recipient of the NNSA Graduate Fellowship Program (NGFP) which is a unique opportunity for recent graduates to join the Nuclear Security Enterprise. She also collaborates with policy makers on top secret projects. She recently completed her PhD in the MIT Department of Nuclear Science and Engineering. Before that she earned a B.S. in physics from Florida A&M University. She was recently featured by ESSENCE Magazine alongside 14 phenomenal black women in STEM. Find out more at mareenarobinsonsnowden.com

Nola Hylton, PhD, is a Professor in Residence in the Department of Radiology and Biomedical Imaging, Co-Director of the Breast Cancer Research Interest Group, and Director of the Breast Imaging Research Group at the University of California, San Francisco. Dr. Hylton received her BS in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts in 1979, and she obtained her PhD in Applied Physics from Stanford University, California in 1985.Dr. Hylton has been integrally involved in the development of magnetic resonance imaging for the detection, diagnosis, and staging of breast cancer. Dr. Hylton is an internationally known leader in the field of breast MRI for more than 20 years. Her search has addressed the clinical optimization and evaluation of breast MRI technology. Her current research program focuses on the development and clinical evaluation of MRI techniques for characterizing breast cancers and assessing their response to treatment. Her laboratory collaborates closely with a multi-disciplinary team of radiologists, surgeons, oncologists, and science researchers nation wide. This is to optimize MRI techniques for the clinical management of breast cancer patients.Dr. Hylton is among the first group of scholars named the Susan G. Komen for the Cure’s Scientific Advisory Council. She served as co-leader for the DHHS office of Women’s Health International Working Group where she identified and addressed barriers to clinical dissemination of breast MRI. She also served as the institutional Principal Investigator of the NCI International Breast MRI Consortium, which is the first large multi-center clinical trial evaluating breast MRI for breast cancer diagnosing and staging.Dr. Hylton has over 80 published research articles, and she has written 13 book chapters and over 130 abstracts. She was recently featured by ESSENCE Magazine alongside 14 phenomenal black women in STEM. Find out more at http://profiles.ucsf.edu/nola.hylton#narrative

Dr. Chanda Prescod-Weinstein is a scientist, a writer, and activist. Presently she is a postdoctoral Research Associate in theoretical physics at the University of Washington, Seattle and lead axion wrangler and social media team member for the NASA STROBE-X Probe Concept Study. Her driving impulse: understand the origin of spacetime and the particles that populate it. Using ideas from both physics and astronomy, she responds to deep questions about how everything got to the be the way it is. Find out more at http://www.cprescodweinstein.com

Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green is a physicist who specializes in targeted cancer therapeutics using nanotechnology and lasers. She has over 10 years of interdisciplinary research experience including five years of training at the Comprehensive Cancer Center and one year in Pathology at The University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). Her expertise lies at the intersection of immunotherapy and precision medicine and includes biocompatible nanoparticle fabrication, antiboy conjugation chemistry, humane animal experiments, and immunohistochemistry.Dr. Green has developed several patent-pending cancer treatment platforms that do not have any observed side effects in mice, a preliminary study to humans. Dr. Green was recently awarded a $1.1 million Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Research Scientist Training Program (RSTP) Career Development Award from the Department of Veterans Affairs Office of Research and Development for her work involving laser-activated nanoparticles that enable biomarker-specific platforms to target, image, and treat malignant tumors. The grant will support the further development of a 3-in-1 system for early detection, imaging, targeting, and selective treatment of head and neck cancer and a single 10-minute laser-activated nanoparticle treatment that induces approximately 100% tumor regression.Her goal is to demonstrate the efficacy of these treatments in a variety of cancer models including in breast, colorectal, brain, lung, ovarian, cervical, pancreatic, bladder, skin and prostate cancers, a $200 Million+ endeavor.Dr. Green has received a variety of research fellowships and scholarships including: David and Lucille Packard Foundation Fellowship; National Science Foundation Bridge to the Doctorate Fellowship; National Physical Science Consortium Fellowship; Tom Joyner Scholarship; and Alabama A&M University (AAMU) Presidential Academic Scholarship.She has also recently received the Research Advocate of the Year presented by the Southern Company and Perennial Strategy Group and the Distinguished Trailblazer Award presented by The National Coalition of 100 Black Women, Inc., Metropolitan Atlanta Chapter. In addition, she has been named to The 2016 Root 100 and The 2016 EBONY Magazine Power 100, lists of the most influential African Americans.Dr. Hadiyah-Nicole Green is one of the first 100 African American women to earn a Ph.D. in Physics. She is the 2nd African American woman and the 4th African American to receive a Ph.D. in Physics from UAB. Dr. Green completed her B.S. degree in Physics from AAMU. After serving two years at Tuskegee University, Dr. Green founded The Ora Lee Smith Cancer Research Foundation (www.WeAreOraLee.org) and joined the faculty at Morehouse School of Medicine to pursue her dream to reduce the suffering of cancer patients and change the way cancer is treated. Find out more at https://weareoralee.org/drgreen/